1. Ask people to follow a Twitter page that's locked and they can't get to.

2. Track the identity of someone who posts a negative comment about your company, learning where he works, and contacting his employer to suggest he be fired.

Social media connects you with your customers in a way that builds loyalty and makes them your “brand ambassadors”… people who promote your name and company to others, because they feel they’ve bonded with you. But, it can also ruin the best-laid marketing plan, reduce the ROI (return on investment) of a carefully designed brand-building or advertising campaign, and create a public relations disaster that puts you and your company in reputation management mode, if it’s used incorrectly.

Chrysler, Kenneth Cole, Starbucks, and supermarket chain Price Chopper all found this out recently. All had to do some reputation management work as a result. Here’s what they did or didn’t do, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.

More Social Media Disasters

Chrysler and the F-Bomb

Chrysler Group LLC fired social media firm New Media Strategies earlier this month, after one of its employees posted a tweet that used the “F” word on Chrysler’s official account. The official tweet read: “I find it ironic that Detroit is know as the (hash)motorcity, and yet no one here knows how to (expletive) drive.”

The original tweet was deleted, but not before it was retweeted numerous times, made its way onto Facebook, across blogs and into the news media. Chrysler ended its relationship with New Media Strategies the next day, and the employee was fired. The fired employee was using Tweetdeck, a program that allows you to manage multiple social media accounts, for the post. He reportedly stated that the tweet was intended for his personal account, and that he’d previously deleted the Chrysler account from Tweetdeck.

What we can learn:

Opinions are divided, but The Insider believes Chrysler made the right decision. It sends a clear message to the people who think the tweet tarnished the company’s image, that Chrysler is concerned about how they perceive the company, recognizes the value of maintaining a good image and brand name, and is responsive to their concerns. Those who disagree may see it as overkill, but the backlash from that will be less than if Chrysler had chosen not to fire the firm.

Create separate accounts for your personal and professional social media accounts, especially if you use a service such as Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. If you outsource your social media marketing/public relations, insist that the company use separate accounts for your business, and that employees are required to have separate Tweetdeck or Hootsuite accounts for their personal use.

And, of course, don’t use four-letter words.

Kenneth Cole and the Crisis in Egypt

Fashion designer Kenneth Cole angered people with a tweet about the Egyptian uprisings last month… “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available ....” Cole himself actually tweeted he statement. He and the company apologized immediately, but many loyal Kenneth Cole customers took to the Internet to announce they would no longer buy the fashion mogul’s products.

What we can learn:

Never take advantage of someone else’s bad fortune as a marketing ploy. It’s a bad strategy that will garner you bad publicity and could potentially damage or destroy your brand.

Quick Takes… You Do The Math

Thousands of Hungarians launched a Facebook campaign encouraging Starbucks to open a store in Budapest. It worked -- Starbucks opened a restaurant and then erased the fan page, along with its 3,000 biggest fans and brand advocates.

The menu at Denny's Restaurants had call-to-action inviting diners to follow the chain at twitter/.com/dennys. But, when diners clicked through, they were taken to the page of "dennys"… someone in Taiwan named Dennys Hsieh, who tweets in Mandarin -- or some other derivative of the Chinese language.

Hire a proofreader and a copyeditor. Dot your I's and cross your T's.

CVS Pharmacy launches on Twitter. The CVS pages feature the legend: "@CVS_Cares's Tweets are protected. Only confirmed followers have access to @CVS_Cares's Tweets and complete profile. You need to send a request before you can start following this account." The problem is that requests to become a follower are not acknowledged.

Engage, Don't Attack

Price Chopper, the Schenectady, NY-based supermarket chain tried to get Jonathan Hoster fired from his job for being "negative" after his tweet negatively compared one of their stores to the rival Wegman's chain. Hoster still has his job, but Price Chopper had a reputation management situation to minimize when it was learned that the company tracked him down and contacted his employer. Don't hate on your customer, clients, and prospects.

When someone posts negative about your business, engage him or her. Find out why they’re unhappy and attempt to correct it. You may win them back, and you’ll certainly demonstrate to your other fans and followers that what they think and feel is important to you. That kind of engagement builds loyalty to your business and helps you establish its brand as a caring company that’s loyal and committed to its customers and fans.

Celebrity Non-Spotlight

Alicia Keys' Digital Death campaign. Keyes had a noble cause: raise a million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS in the third world. But, as they say, "prior planning prevents…" Keyes enlisted a host of celebs to put the kibosh on tweeting, blogging, and using social media in general, until the target goal was raised. When it wasn't, rather than rally with calls to action, all this social-media firepower was under a self-imposed moratorium to do...nothing.

It's not as about you as much as you think it is. And when it is about you, it's not necessarily about the part of you that you think it is. Plan accordingly.

The Bottom Line

Most of these social media disasters involve Twitter, but it’s important to remember that Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, and even consumer-review sites such as Yelp or Google Places present opportunities for you to interact with your customers… and for mistakes to occur.

Always think before you post. Never take advantage of someone else’s bad fortune to promote yourself or your business. Check your spelling and your links.

Apologize if you post or tweet something that you later realize was a mistake to send out. Do it sooner, not later.

Don’t be afraid of a negative comment or complaint about your company. Respond to it by confirming and clarifying it. Offer to redress it or find out what it would take to fix the problem, and take action on it as soon as possible. Be polite and courteous at all times.